AUTHENTIC ANTIQUE HEDDLE PULLEY GURO COTE D'IVOIRE

Description

Here is an
authentic
antique
carved-wood heddle-pulley in the form of an arched frame
surmounted
by two vertical supports, stylized bush cow horns and embellished with dentate engraving.
This traditional 5.25" tall /13.3 cm (mounted) weaving implement possesses a
rich and lustrous, dark-brown patina from
a century or more of use and handling.
Loom weaving has a long history throughout the African continent. In west Africa, weavers traveled from village to village, hiring out their skills and carrying with them the tools of their trade including carved wooden implements, often of considerable artistic merit. The heddle-pulley, however, received the greatest attention because it was the highest and most visible loom-component. Heddle-pulleys were carved into human, animal and geometric sculptures possessing magico-religious or symbolic significance.
In recent decades, however, various factors have greatly diminished the role of the traditional itinerant weaver and his tools. Beautifully carved old wooden heddle-pulleys have been largely replaced by inverted coffee-cans fitted with recycled plastic spools or other 21st century substitutes.
This old — and authentic — heddle-pulley represents a forever-lost category of traditional African sculpture and reveals the creativity that elevated otherwise utilitarian implements into striking and often unique works of art.
Note: this fine pulley has been in the seller's collection since 1958 when it was personally acquired from a weaver in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
HEDDLE PULLEY
Guro, Cote D'Ivoire, West Africa
Early 20th Century
shipping, Delivery Confirmation service and insurance within continental U.S.
Overseas buyer, add shipping.
Customs cost is the sole responsibility of the buyer; please inquire before bidding.
PayPal Payment is expected within
two days
of auction’s end.
Wood base is included. If there are any questions, please e-mail before bidding.
If not to U.S. buyer’s satisfaction, this artwork may be returned as shipped within thirty days of purchase for a purchase price refund
minus a 10% re-stocking fee for return of item in original condition and with original packing materials; buyer pays return shipping and insurance.
In a marketplace overflowing with fake “African Art” shoddily produced from as far away as China,
artificially aged and offered for sale to inexperienced buyers at very low cost, it is becoming increasingly
difficult to acquire genuine old and ethnographically significant artworks used by their indigenous creators.
Thank You and Good Luck!
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